


Rainy Days

by LibraryMage



Series: Ktavnukkah 5778 [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 07:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13026144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: On a quiet, rainy day, Jed and Abbey Bartlet make a choice that changes Ellie's life, they hope for the better.





	Rainy Days

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ktavnukkah day three. Prompt: laughter.

In Ellie Bartlet’s earliest memory, it’s raining.  It’s raining and the clouds are making it dark in the early afternoon.  It’s raining, it’s dark, and there’s someone at the door.

Ellie and Liz are standing by the window.  Liz’s arms are crossed in front of her as she leans on the sill.  Ellie, too short to mimic her posture, is standing on her toes, her chin resting beside Liz’s elbow.  They’re watching the raindrops on the window intently, as if their narrow-eyed stares can make the drop they’ve each chosen roll down the glass and reach the bottom of the pane faster.  Liz is quietly muttering “go, go, go!” until her raindrop stops, just inches from the finish line.  She sighs and shoves herself away from the window.

“You win again,” she says to Ellie, who quietly laughs and drops down off her toes.

They hear it at the same time, from the other end of the house, the low voices of grownups talking about serious things.

“Leo?” Liz asks, glancing down at her sister.  Ellie had always had an uncanny knack for recognizing which of their parents’ friends was visiting as soon as they entered the house, but Ellie shakes her head, her eyes narrowing, her mouth a flat line.

“Aunt Millie,” she says.  “And Mom’s…thinking really loud.”

“About what?” Liz asks.

“How should I know?”

Liz shrugs.  “Thought you knew everything,” she says, a sarcastic edge to her voice.  Ellie sticks her tongue out at her sister and Liz gently pushes her just as Mom, Dad, and Aunt Millie turn the corner.

“Liz --” Mom starts to stay, but Ellie distracts her from scolding anyone by rushing forward and throwing her arms around Aunt Millie’s knees.  Liz, at seven-almost-eight, is more reserved than her sister, but just barely.  She waves enthusiastically at her Mom’s old friend and bounces slightly on the balls of her feet.

Ellie laughs as Millie ruffles her mousy brown hair and says “hey, sweetie.”  There’s something weird in her voice, Ellie notices, like she’s distracted by something else.

“Why don’t you girls go play upstairs?” Mom says.  “Your dad and I have to talk to Millie for a bit, but maybe she can play with you later.”

“’Kay,” Liz says.  She grabs Ellie’s hand and runs toward the stairs, pulling her sister behind her.  Behind them, they both hear the sound of the grown-ups’ footsteps walking into the living room and a door closing.

Halfway up the stairs Liz stops, looking back at Ellie and putting one finger to her lips, telling her to be quiet, that glint in her eye that tells Ellie she has a Scheme in mind.  Ellie nods.  She covers her mouth with her free hand for a second to stifle a small laugh as the two of the creep slowly back down the stairs and down the hall.  They stick close to the wall, crouching down beside the door, trying not to breathe too loud so they won't miss what their parents and Millie are saying.

“--give you a deadline to make the decision?” Millie is asking.

“Not exactly,” Mom says, “but they don’t take children older than four.”

“Ellie’s barely three,” Millie points out.  Liz glances over at her sister, whose eyes narrow as she realizes she’s the topic of this secret conversation.

“They say the transition’s easier the younger they are,” Mom says.

“That’s what I’ve heard,” Millie agrees.

“You’ve worked with Jedi before,” Dad says, and Liz’s eyes go wide at the mention of the word.  “Do you think it would be better for her?  Being with other people like her?”

“It might,” Millie says.  “But if you want my opinion --”

“And we do,” Mom interjects.

“Then I think it’s not just about Ellie,” Millie says.  “It’s about your whole family.  Including you.”

The room is silent for a moment.  Liz’s hand tightens around Ellie’s hard enough that Ellie lets out a quiet squeak.

“I don’t think I can do it,” Mom says quietly.  “I don’t know if that’s selfish or --”

“I don’t think it is,” Dad says, and Ellie doesn’t have to see them to know he’s holding Mom’s hand.

“Sounds to me like you’ve made your decision,” Millie says.

“I guess we have,” Dad says.  There’s a pause before he speaks again.  “We shouldn’t tell the girls about this.  Not yet.”

“When they’re older,” Mom agrees.

* * *

 

The years fly by, Liz and Ellie grow older, and their new baby sister is born not long before Ellie reaches the age when she’s too old for her parents to change their minds.

Ellie’s memory of that day begins to fade, buried under new memories as the weeks, months, years go by, and it becomes just another normal rainy day with her and Liz’s laughter bouncing off the walls as they’re stuck inside the house.

Jed and Abbey don’t know, and won’t find out for years, that on that rainy spring day, they saved their second child’s life.

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask me why I ended up so attached to the Bartlet sisters and the idea of Force sensitive Ellie


End file.
